Sausage and Cabbage Soup

I made this recipe up as I went along so there are not exact measurements, but who follows those anyways? So here are my guidelines for a simple and hearty soup.Sausage and Cabbage Soup

1/2 head cabbage
3/4 link of smoked sausage
carrots
potatoes
1/2 onion
1 leek
Beef broth
Seasoning (garlic, pepper, thyme, maybe a bay leaf)
Brown sausage, remove and cook onions and leek down. When almost tender add shredded cabbage. Cook until a little transparent and add broth.
Add all remaining ingredients (can add to crockpot at this point as well). Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Slow Cooker Tuesday - Curried Chicken

This recipe was heaven, and I am not even a huge fan of curry. I've been super busy with lessons, practices, etc. and so I've been relying a little more heavily on the crockpot for support lately. It's been a good relationship, but it was getting a little boring. I decided to spice things up a little with a curry recipe. Well worth it, I tell you!

This recipe comes from the Rival Crock Pot Recipes: Flavors from Around the World collection. There are a few more I'll try out and share, soon I'm sure.

Slow Simmered Curried Chicken

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (I just sliced mine into strips)

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (I didn't use this, kids aren't fans)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup medium salsa

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (I totally didn't have fresh ginger, powder worked fine)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (we all know I LOVE cilantro)

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. curry powder

3/4 tsp. salt

Hot cooked rice (I used brown)

1. Place onions and bell pepper in bottom of the crock pot. Top with chicken. Combine salsa, ginger, garlic powder and pepper flakes in a small bowl; spoon over the chicken. Cover; cook on LOW 5-6 hours or on HIGH 2-3 hours or until chicken is done.

2. Combine the cilantro, sugar, curry powder and salt in a small bowl. Stir mixture into crock pot. Cover; cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until hot. Serve over rice.

**NOTE** I didn't wait to put the additional ingredients in, I knew I wouldn't have time before we needed to eat. It worked fine, really well in fact.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

I have a confession. I have never out grown my macaroni and cheese addiction from a child. I am not a fan of the blue box special, but I LOVE the homemade kind. This recipe combines homemade flavor and a crockpot. What more could I ask for? I made a few changes from the original recipe to suite my taste more.. I think that it is scrumptious. Sorry, no picture.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese
adapted from a Paula Deen recipe

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups. I also think the "Ronzoni Smart Taste" pasta work the best. It takes longer to cook so it seems to hold up better.)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until barely tender (al dente), about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring about every 45 minutes. I like to serve it with parmesan cheese and more pepper sprinkled on top.

Slow Cooker Saturday (Food Storage Food...)

With the unavoidable end of the world coming, it's impending arrival on the forefront of all of our minds, we cooks need to stand up for our kitchens...we need FOOD STORAGE!  Kidding, well, sort of.  Though that is dramatic, and totally something you'd expect to hear on a street corner by some guy with a sandwich board attached to his body, it's true.  

We've been advised for years in our church to have food storage.  We've been told to have a years supply, and 72-hour kits, water storage and emergency funds.  It's important for so many reasons beyond the impending firey furnace of Armageddon...like if you don't feel like going to the store one evening with four children attached and you need a can of beans, or some pasta.  Maybe this is on my mind because I'm planning my pantry, or because my mom just dropped off another load of food storage goodness, but it's true, and it's IMPORTANT!

So here is today's slow cooker recipe, that you can make out of food storage.  Or FOR food storage if you dry heat process it...hmmm, what a great idea! 

FIFTEEN BEAN SOUP

Mix together one pound of each of the following:

Great Northern beans

Navy beans

Green split peas

Pinto beans

Red kidney beans

Chickpeas

Lentils

Baby lima beans

Barley

Blackeye peas

Yellow split peas

Large lima beans

Pink beans

Small red beans

Black beans

Fill pint jars with dry beans, and include the following cooking directions:

Wash and sort jar of beans.  Cover with 2 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes.  remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.  Add ham or other smoked meat, 1/2 tsp. dried minced garlic, 3 tbsp. dried onion and cook for 3 to 4 hours.  Makes approximately 4 quarts of soup.

NOTE: Add 1/4 tsp. baking soda in hard water areas for softer beans.  For long term storage, bottle the dry mix using a dry heat processing method.

Slow Cooker Monday

Slow-cooker Salsa Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup salsa

1 package reduced sodium taco seasonings

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

Add chicken to slow cooker, sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken, pour salsa and soup over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.  Serve with rice.

Slow Cooker Saturday

So sorry for the lack of postings this week.  We've had company and I've been extra busy with a birthday.  Yay for kids and for Mother-in-laws that purchase the cake.  I'll be making his cake for the birthday party, but for the family dinner I was all for the store-bought ice cream cake....mmmmm.

For today's slow cooker recipes I'm heading to sparkpeople.com's recipe file.  SparkPeople is a great, free website that allows you to track your food intake, your exercise and fitness goals.  It's a great forum for weight loss and general health improvement.  They have a recipe file of user-submitted recipes.  I haven't made either of these recipes, but they look good, and I'm planning on making them this week.  I'll try to remember to post pictures when I've got them done!

Also, I've got company coming on Monday, and I've got to get a menu that's perfect....I don't want to disappoint.  I'll keep you updated on what I come up with.

SLOW-COOKER APPLESAUCE

4 cups apples, chopped

1/8 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Chop apples into 1 inch pieces, removing the core.  Cut off peel and slice into small pieces.  Place apples in crockpot.  Add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.  Stir to coat apples.  Turn crockpot to low and cook overnight.  Can be cooked on high for 4 hours or overnight on low for at least 8 hours.

Makes about 8, 1/2 cup servings. 

**I think I will reduce the sugar a little, and I'm planning on using Fuji or Gala apples, my kids like unsweetened applesauce***

CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

1 pack angel hair pasta

half of a large block of Velveeta cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups of cooked chopped chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in large crockpot and cook on high for about an hour.  Mixture will melt together and when liquid is almost gone it should be done.  Stir as needed.

**I think this looks good, it should be a thick pasta dish.**

Slow Cooker Sunday

BROWN SUGAR CHICKEN

2 lbs. chicken tenders

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup lemon-lime soda

2-3 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. black pepper

Place chicken in crock.  Mix together all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken pieces.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.  Serve over rice.

*** UPCOMING ON BROOKE'S KITCHEN MUSINGS ***

St. Patty's Day is Tuesday, Yay!  We have made a tradition of skipping the Corned Beef Hash and going straight for either an all green meal or Green Eggs and Ham.  Pictures to come...

Also upcoming, I'm thinking (seriously) about introducing either guest contributors, or a second full-time contributor to make this blog more diverse.  We'll see who's up for the task! :)

Slow Cooker Saturday

Because I've never been one to put off tomorrow what can be done today...and because my kitchen is a little out of commission right now, I'm doing Slow Cooker Saturday rather than Sunday.

Because I can.  That's the only way I can guarantee it'll get done.  Smart, eh?

I think I've mentioned my affinity for breakfast food before.  If not, let me mention now that I LOVE BREAKFAST FOOD.   I do.  A LOT.  It's kind of weird because I love cold cereal too.  I think I'd rather eat cold cereal for breakfast and then eat the really good breakfast food for dinner. 

Is that weird? Hmmm.

So here is a great breakfast recipe that you pop in the crock at night, go to bed and wake up to a great, hot breakfast.

CROCK-POT BREAKFAST

1 (32-oz) bag, frozen hashbrown potatoes

1 lb. bacon, cut into pieces, cooked

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3/4 lb. cheddar cheese, diced

1 dozen eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Layer the hashbrowns, bacon, onion, green pepper, and cheese in crock pot.  Beat eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper together.  Pour over mixture and cook on low for 10 hours.  Serves 8.

Slow Cooker Sunday

This recipe comes from Family Fun Magazine's website, see here
for original recipe.  It looks delicious and very easy.
CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
	1 cup all-purpose flour
	2 teaspoons baking powder
	6 tablespoons butter
	2 ounces semisweet chocolate (or 1/3 cup chocolate chips)
	1 cup sugar (2/3 cup & 1/3 cup, added separately)
	3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
	1 tablespoon vanilla extract
	1/4 teaspoon salt
	1/3 cup milk
	1 egg yolk
	1/3 cup brown sugar
	11/2 cups hot water
	Whipped cream or ice cream

1. Coat the inside of a 2 1/2- to 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. (Note: the cake's cooking time and final appearance will vary depending on your crock's size.) 
2. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water and mix well. 
3. Whisk in the 2/3 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, vanilla extract, salt, milk, and egg yolk. Add the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Pour the batter into the slow cooker and spread it evenly. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, cocoa, and hot water until the sugar is dissolved. 
5. Pour the mixture over the batter in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the crock pot.
6. Even when done, the cake will be very moist and floating on a layer of molten chocolate, but you'll know it's ready when nearly all of the cake is set and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pot. (As you check, try not to let the condensed steam from the lid drip onto the cake.) 
7. When it's done, turn off the power and remove the lid. Let it cool for 25 minutes, then serve it in bowls topped with whipped cream or ice cream. Makes 6 to 8 servings.